Lethrinus borbonicus | UAE National Red List of Marine Species: Reef-building corals, cartilaginous fishes and select bony fishes

Taxa
Lethrinus borbonicus | Valenciennes, 1830
Publication
UAE National Red List of Marine Species: Reef-building corals, cartilaginous fishes and select bony fishes
Location
Countries in Assessment
United Arab Emirates
Country ISO code(s)
ARE
Does the assessment cover a marine EEZ area(s)?
Off
Scope (Assessment)
National
Taxon
Taxonomic Group
Vertebrates
Taxonomic Group Level 2
Fishes
Assessed taxon level
Species
Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
This species occurs throughout UAE waters. Globally, it is restricted to the Western Indian Ocean where it occurs from South Africa, Madagascar, the Mascarenes and the Seychelles to the Red Sea, Arabian Gulf and Pakistan (Carpenter 1989, Carpenter and Allen 1989, Gaudian et al. 1995, Gillibrand 2007, K.E. Carpenter pers. comm. 2014). Its depth range is 1 to 40 m (Carpenter 1989).
Habitats and Ecology
Ecological system type
Terrestrial system
No
Freshwater system
No
Marine system
Yes
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
This marine species inhabits the sandy bottoms of seagrass beds and on or near coral reefs at depths of 1 to 40 m (Carpenter 1989, Khalaf et al. 2012). During the day, it is found to a depth of 40 m, occasionally occurring in small groups; however, at night, itis solitary and found over reef-flats and slopes as shallow as 1 m in depth. Itsdiet consists of echinoderms, mollusks and crustaceans. The maximum total length is 40 cm (Carpenter and Allen 1989). A study conducted in the southern Arabian Gulf, reported a maximum age of 9 years, spawning occurs from March to June, it is a short-lived, fast growing species with a high natural mortality rate, and the mean age and size at sexual maturity was 2 years and 22.1 cm for males and 1.3 years and 21.3 cm<sub> </sub>for females (Grandcourt et al. 2010). When applying an age at first reproduction of 2 years and longevity of 9 years, its estimated generation length is 5.5 years based on the following equation recommended by the IUCN Red List methods: Age at first reproduction + (Age at last reproduction -“ age at first reproduction)/2.
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Assessed status
Asessment status in full
Data deficient
Assessment status abreviation
DD
Assessment rationale/justification
This inshore, reef-associated species occurs throughout UAE waters, and can be common in the Arabian Gulf. A 2010 stock assessment considered the Abu Dhabi stock to be overexploited, and in 2016, the stock was considered fully exploited. Catch in Abu Dhabi has declined by 81% over the past two generation lengths, or about 10-12 years. Fishing effort has declined in Abu Dhabi due to fisheries management to reduce the gargoor fishery since 2007, but catch declines are not fully explained by this. The status of population(s) outside the UAE are not well-understood. Based on the uncertainty regarding the population trend of this exploited species, it is listed as Data Deficient in UAE waters. Improvements in fisheries monitoring are needed.
About the assessment
Assessment year
2019
Assessors/contributors/reviewers listed
UAE National Red List Workshop
Affliation of assessor(s)/contributors/reviewers listed on assessment
Government
IGO
Assessor affiliation specific
Government|IGO
Criteria system
Criteria system specifics
IUCN v3.1 + Regional Guidelines v4.0
Criteria system used
IUCN
Criteria Citation
IUCN. 2012. IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1, Second edition. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. iv + 32pp pp. And IUCN. 2012. Guidelines for Application of IUCN Red List Criteria at Regional and National Levels: Version 4.0. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN. iii + 41pp.
Endemism
Endemic to region
Not_assigned
Endemism Notes
Is an endemic?: Not_assigned
Conservation
Threats listed in assessment
Overfishing is a major threat to this species in the Arabian Gulf (Grandcourt et al. 2010). According to a study conducted in the Red Sea, this species can retain relatively high levels of PAHs (Ali et al. 2014). Corals in the UAE and Arabian Gulf have severely declined due to the increasing frequency of mass bleaching events caused by rising water temperatures, which is a consequence of climate change, as well as pervasive coastal development (Riegl et al. 2018, Burt et al. 2019).
Conservation Measures

Conservation measures:
Conservation measures notes:
Required conservation measures:

Scientific Name Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus
Lethrinus borbonicus Animalia Chordata Actinopterygii Perciformes Lethrinidae Lethrinus